The no. 23-ranked William Woods University women's basketball team puts its perfect 4-0 record on the line against 6-0 Central Methodist in a Tuesday night road battle. Tipoff for the game in Fayette, Mo., is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
The Matchup
The Owls come into Friday's contest with a 4-0 record on the 2012-13 season. WWU has three players averaging in double figures on the season.
Priscila Santos (12.8) and
Olivia Storjohann (12.3) lead the offense on the season, with
Ashlee Taylor's 16-point outburst against Evangel moving her into double digits at 11.0 on the year.
Stephanie Copelin is just three points shy of the 10-point plateau, averaging 9.3 pts/gm on the year.
Led by Raylyn Nuss's 12.2 pts/gm average, Central Methodist has posted a 6-0 record, although two of those wins have come against non-NAIA teams and a third has come against Stephens College.
National Rankings
Early in the year, the Owls have set up camp in the national rankings across a number of categories. William Woods ranks 12th in the country with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.078 and is 13th with a .744 success rate from the free throw line. The Owls are also solid in shooting percentages, ranked 24th on both the offensive and defensive side of the ledgers - WWU hits at a .338 pace from distance and holds its opponents to a .347 pace overall from the floor.
There's a little more distance in another offense/defense comparison category for WWU, as the Owls rank 18th in scoring defense - allowing 53.0 pts/gm - and score 67.75 pts/gm for the 49th-best mark in the NAIA.
The national rankings are certainly a team-driven effort, as the Owls have just four players ranked in the top 50 on the individual side.
Olivia Storjohann leads the three point shooting barrage for the Owls with a .500 success rate, good for ninth in the country, and also ranks ninth with a .909 pace from the charity stripe.
Julia Wells is also ranked ninth, with an amazing assist/turnover ratio of 4.0.
Priscila Santos is also solid from the stripe, hitting at a .786 pace - 45th-best in the country - with
Stephanie Copelin rounding out the individual rankings for the Owls in 49th with 1.0 block per game.
Balanced Attack
The Owls have definitely displayed a balanced mindset on the offensive end this year, as four players are averaging nearly 10 points a game or better.
Priscila Santos leads the charge with an average of 15.0 pts/gm in her role as first off the bench for WWU, with
Olivia Storjohann averaging 12.7 pts/gm, paced by 6-of-11 shooting from 3-pt range.
Ashlee Taylor (9.3) and
Stephanie Copelin (9.0) are just below the threshold.
Stock In Windex?
Through three games on the year, the Owls have grabbed an average of seven more rebounds per game than their opponents and have done so with a balanced rebounding corps.
Stephanie Copelin and
Olivia Storjohann have each pulled down 25 on the year, with
Priscila Santos grabbing 24 for per game paces of 6.3 and 6.0 respectively. In total, the Owls have five players on the roster who have each averaged four rebounds a game or better -
Katie Scherder and
Julia Wells pull down 4.3 and 4.8 per contest respectively.
Stepping It Up
One of the players that head coach
Dan Chapla looked to have a greater contribution this year is
Stephanie Copelin. Through four games, the junior has managed to do just that, as she has averaged 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. She has averaged 29.3 minutes per contest in her junior season, well above her averages of 10.3/gm as a freshman and 5.7/gm as a sophomore.
Quick Look - Central Methodist University
Raylyn Nuss leads Central Methodist with a 12.2 pts/gm pace, although only she and Taylor Cornelison average in double figures for the Lady Eagles. CMU has outscored its opponents by a solid 69.7-49.5 margin, although its schedule includes a pair of USCAA schools and only one NAIA Division I school.
From the floor, Central Methodist hits at a .399 pace, with a .312 mark from beyond the arc. The Lady Eagles are slightly outshot from the free throw line on the year, however, with a .630-.659 deficit. They also hold a strong edge on the glass, pulling down 47.5 rebounds per game to just 33.5 for its opponents. Britney Joseph leads the rebounding charge for CMU with 10.2 per game.
Gonna Let 'Em Understand?
WWU's 4-0 record marks the 15th time in program history and the third time under head coach
Dan Chapla that the Owls have gone undefeated in the first four games of the year. Chapla's 2009-10 and 2010-11 squads also started the campaign with three straight regular season wins, streaking to 12-0 records on both occasions.
Chapla doesn't hold the longest win streak to open the season, however. That honor belongs to Roger Ternes's 1991-92 squad, who opened the campaign with a 17-game streak. The first loss of the season came to Rockhurst University.
